Fangs, Fur, & Fey - UF's popularity

UF's popularity

Mar. 8th, 2008 at 10:03 AM

The Smart Bitches posted a discussion abt Urban Fantasy.

In it, Sarah quotes Devi Pillai on why UF has become so popular--

"One of the most popular is that romance has the most active readership in the market and those readers are turning towards fantasy since the elements are so close to paranormal romance. Romance readers started devouring fantasy when they found more female centric stories/heroines versus the usual boy-on-a-quest epic fantasy (which was the bread and butter of most fantasy lines). Another theory is that that Buffy and the interest in women who can take care of themselves while being vulnerable brought on an interest for girls-who-kick-ass novels." (Pillai, Smart Bitches Thread)

Pillai goes on to add a personal theory--

"So I think the urban fantasy market is more of a reaction in recent years to the fact that a) the readership and the authorship is changing b) the editors in the majority of houses are female and c) the largest readers demographically are female and for the genre as a whole to grow, it has to change." (Pillai, Smart Bitches Thread)

What about YOU? Why do you think we've seen such a growth?

Melissa Marr

Comments

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pbray wrote:

Mar. 8th, 2008 04:07 pm (UTC)

I was reading urban fantasy long before it was recognized as a unique genre--Tanya Huff, Charles de Lint, Megan Lindholm's Wizard of Pigeons, Emma Bull's War for the Oaks, etc.

Since the genre exploded, I find urban fantasy makes up an increasing proportion of my reading. Not because I wandered over from romance, but because authors are creating strong character driven stories, which is what I look for, regardless of genre.

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vivaciousvivi wrote:

Mar. 8th, 2008 04:57 pm (UTC)

I have to agree with Devi about readership. It is in most part because of romance readers crossing over to the genre. And romance authors that have crossed over as well.

Romance readers are ferocious readers and will read across the board. Romance novels are 48% of all novels sold, so it makes sense if some of those novels are cross-overs then they are being gobbled up by those same readers who put Nora, Christine Feehan, Sherrilyn Kenyon on the bestseller lists.

Vivi

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jordansummers1 wrote:

Mar. 8th, 2008 07:16 pm (UTC)

I think she's correct about the romance readers fueling the popularity of UF. Yes, UF has been around a long time. Long before it was called UF. The popularity of television shows like Buffy and the upsurge in graphic novels (with movie tie-ins) have brought attention to the genre. I also agree with her about the shift in women writers. That did bring in a lot of readers, which now benefits all UF authors.

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kathrynsmith wrote:

Mar. 8th, 2008 07:27 pm (UTC)

I was talking to an editor about this earlier this week. I've been reading UF for quite some time, and I love that it's so huge now. I remarked to this editor that UF has become the new chick lit. I don't mean that in a derogatory manner, but just that UF has become hot with readers wanting female-centric stories. You have first person, third person, dark, funny, sexy, demure... And there is usually some kind of relationship in the background, generally a romantic one (or two, or three! lol).

That said, I realize not all UF has female leads, but there are a lot of them that do.

That's my incoherent two cents.

Kathryn

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satyrblade wrote:

Mar. 9th, 2008 03:12 am (UTC)

Art directors have been giving those novels better covers.

I'm serious. :)

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janni wrote:

Mar. 9th, 2008 03:29 pm (UTC)

I honestly think it's too soon to tell whether the current flavor of urban fantasy is a long-term trend or a short-term bubble. Or if, like chick-lit, it's a bubble that will lead to oversaturation and then settle down into a smaller, but more stable, market. I'm very curious to see what the landscape of fantasy looks like in five years, and ten.

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swan_tower wrote:

Mar. 9th, 2008 04:25 pm (UTC)

I think the current flavor is at least partially a bubble that's going to pop -- it's sprung up so rapidly, and so hugely, that I can't imagine it staying at this level forever. But that doesn't mean it's going to vanish again, either; I think the style itself is here to stay.

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janni wrote:

Mar. 9th, 2008 06:15 pm (UTC)

I agree. And I think that's sort of what chick lit did, too--you can still find it, authors still make livings at it, but it's not quite as everywhere as it was before.

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UF's popularity

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